Matthew 24:31Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

That the Lord calls His elect by His Angels pertains to the honour of the elect; and Paul also says that they shall be caught into the clouds; (1 Thes. 4:17.) that is, the Angels shall gather together those that have risen, and when they are gathered together, the clouds shall receive them.

He will dispatch angels to bring together the living saints and those who have been resurrected to meet Him in the heavens. He will exalt them by calling them forth through the angels. This aligns with the teachings of the Apostle Paul, who affirmed that "we shall be raptured in the clouds"; those gathered by angels will subsequently be taken up in the clouds. Thus, the sound of the trumpet adds to the awe of this event.

The apostle mentions this trumpet in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and the Book of Revelation discusses it in Revelation 8:7-13. In the Old Testament, there is a directive to create trumpets made of gold, silver, and brass to proclaim the profound truths of doctrine.

He will dispatch them prior to the emergence of the Cross. In this instance, he departs from the chronological narrative to convey what is destined to occur. The four winds symbolize the four corners of the globe: east, west, north, and south. Each region emanates its own distinctive wind, collectively representing these four quarters. The phrase from the end of the heavens to the end of them provides clarification for the earlier reference to the four winds. Mark states, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven, illustrating that the boundaries of heaven and earth are equivalent. It is essential to observe that the dead will be raised at the sound of a trumpet; those who awaken will be gathered by angels, and those who are gathered will be taken up in clouds.

It is further stated concerning the Second Coming and the Final Judgment: at that time, the Son of Man will dispatch his angels to assemble his chosen ones from the four corners of the earth.

Because He had spoken of mourning, which shall be only that they may bear witness against themselves and condemn themselves, that none should suppose that that mourning will end their woes, He now adds, And he shall send his Angels with a trump and a loud voice.

Here we are not to think of a real trumpet, but of the voice of the archangel, which shall be so loud that at its sound all the dead shall rise out of the dust of the earth.

The Son of Man revealed His divinity when He proclaimed that He would dispatch His angels, for angels are instruments of God, and it is His prerogative to send them forth. The phrase "from the edge of heaven to the edge of them" indicates a unity between the realms of earth and heaven. Hence, we are called to trust in Christ and not to be misled into believing that the earth is merely a trivial aspect of the vastness of heaven, which is filled with boundless glory.

He will dispatch His angels, and their throngs will soar at His command from one end of the cosmos to the other, accompanied by a resounding trumpet that echoes with the might of God, like the very trumpet of God itself. At the sound of this trumpet, the dead will rise. The angels of the Most High will gather His CHOSEN ONES—those true believers called into the Kingdom of Christ, along with all who engage in wickedness—from the four corners of the earth, from the east and the west, the north and the south, from the farthest reaches of the heavens to their outer limits, encompassing all realms and all lands. They will assemble the faithful for everlasting glory, while the sinners will be led to eternal torment.

When Jesus spoke of His return, He employed terms and imagery that the apostles would grasp, drawn from Jewish life. Moses, while guiding the Israelites into the Promised Land, convened assemblies and instructed them to sound silver trumpets to signal their journey (see Num. 10:1-10); this practice became a tradition among the Jews in later generations. The phrase from the four winds was commonly used among the Jews to denote the four corners of the earth—east, west, north, and south. Additionally, the expression from the edge of the heavens to the edge of them, found in the Old Testament, referred to the entirety of the earth, the whole inhabited globe (see Deuteronomy 4:32).

“With a mighty trumpet blast”: it is not that every angel will sound a trumpet, but rather there will be a singular final trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52), the trumpet of God (1 Thess. 4:16). At the blast of this trumpet, angels will be dispatched by the Messiah. This trumpet will also herald the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. 1 Thess. in the following places). The Jewish people traditionally summoned their assemblies with trumpets (Lev. 25:9, Num. 10:2, Judg. 3:27). The Savior employs this well-known practice among the Jews to signify a divine act, prompting the angels to gather the elect at Christ’s second coming. - “The elect”: genuine believers chosen to inherit Christ’s kingdom. The angels will also assemble those who engage in wrongdoing (cf. Matt. 13:41).

The final trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52) from God (1 Thess. 4:16) will herald the ultimate judgment for humanity, symbolizing a unique expression of God's all-powerful nature, akin to the Jewish tradition of summoning people to assemble with trumpet calls (Lev. 25:9; Num. 10:2; Judg. 3:27). On this day, not only the chosen will be gathered, but, as the Lord previously announced, all deceivers and evildoers (Matt. 13:41) will also come forth. At the resurrection of the dead, all who are in their graves will respond to the call of the Son of God; those who have committed righteous deeds will rise to partake in the resurrection unto life, while those who have done wrong will experience the resurrection unto judgment (John 5:28, 29).